Monthly Archives: October 2011

The 12th Annual International Film Festival, presented by the Monterey Bay Chapter of the USA-United Nations Association (UNA), is happening this weekend at the historic and beautiful Golden State Theatre, on 417 Alvarado Street, downtown Monterey.

Admission is $5 per session of films, with FREE admission for all students with ID.

While the topics are serious in nature — and perhaps some will be hard to watch— it is a super deal to see interesting and educational, documentary films from around the globe! Some may even call us into action…

Note that on Saturday afternoon, the City of Monterey is offering FREE parking in the parking garage behind Wells Fargo Bank, at Franklin and Tyler. Enter the lot, take a ticket, and on your way out just say you have been at the International FIlm Festival.

Still thinking of the recent Bioneers Conference…where you could buy all sorts of drinks from the food vendors. But if you were looking to buy a plastic bottle of water — the ones sold it seems, at all other event venues — sorry, but not at this conference.

And it was a rather sunny, hot weekend. What to do?

No worries, as there were carbon filtered water stations all over the place. So, as long as you had your reusable water container, you could fill up — for free — and eliminate the need to buy single-use plastic water bottles, and saving a lot of money in the process.

And of course, if you forgot your water bottle, or needed to buy one, there was the Klean Kanteen store, sellers of stainless steel, reusable water bottles, conveniently located next to one of the water station tents.

It is so nice to see the opposite message at the Bioneers Conference…we don’t need overpriced, single use, plastic water bottles at these big events!

To learn more about how advertising campaigns manufactured a demand for bottled water….and got us to buy water that cost up to 2,000 times more than the water from our faucets, click on this link to The Story of Bottled Water. (From the same group that brought us “The Story of Stuff”).

At the Bioneers Conference, held at the Marin Center in San Rafael, California last weekend, I saw that recycling programs can be done on a large-scale — even at events attended by thousands of people.

I’m sure it helps if event attendees have a green mindset already….but still, a lot of credit goes to Bioneers and the team of Marin Country organizations that made it so easy to recycle (or compost) trash.

Recycling and waste “eco” station bins were placed all around the conference grounds, conference venues and event tents. To help educate and sort out your trash, the stations were usually staffed by someone from the Conservation Corp North Bay (CCNB), a youth job training and education program, who made sure bottles, cans, paper, food waste and compostable utensils go into the correct bin.

If a CCNB staff member is not available, there are pictures on top of each bin, to tell you what items can go in for recycling or composting, with a bin option for “Landfill”.

The same system employed at the Bioneers conference, helped the Marin Country Fair — a five-day event attended by 115,000 people — earn the status of “The Greenest County Fair on Earth”. At last year’s fair, they were able to divert 90% of the waste created at the fair from going to the landfill. Ninety percent? That is really amazing!

Here is a comment from Jennie Pardi, Community Recycling Program Coordinator for CCNB, on the Marin County Fair success:

“It is so rewarding to be part of an event this big that is setting an example and being successful at reducing waste. If a county fair with 100,000+ people can do this, then we can all do it in our daily lives. This is such an important step in conserving our valuable natural resources.”

More proof that waste management and recycling programs — at large events — is possible and happening now. Yes! We can all work together to leave a cleaner environment for our grandchildren.

And if other counties in California — and beyond — use these methods at large events… wow, what a difference that will make!

For more information CCNB’s job training and education program for youths, click on the Conservation Corps logo or here.

To read about the team that worked to make the Marin County Fair “The Greenest County Fair on Earth”, click on this link.

Native Leaf is exhibiting at the upcoming Bioneers conference, at the Marin Center, San Rafael, California from October 14 to 16, 2011.

Please visit us at the Exhibit Tent, open between 12:30 PM and 8:00 PM if you are attending.

Bioneers is a leading-edge forum and environmental conference with social and scientific innovators.

Click on the Bioneers logo or this link for more information on being part of the solution for people and planet. Bioneers is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations.